Henry Rowe SchoolcraftINFORMATION RESPECTING THE HISTORY, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE UNITED STATES: COLLECTED AND PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, PER ACT OF CONGRESS OF MARCH 3D, 1847. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1853-1856. Series: Ethnological Researches, Respecting the Red Man of America. 6 vols.

Gift of The Hearst Corporation

"They scaffold their dead on eminencies where may be descried afar off. The corpse, after it has received its wrappings, is placed in a rude coffin, which is generally garnished with red pigments and rendered picturesque to the eye by offerings to the dead, hung on poles . . . "

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793–1864) was one of the pioneers in the study of Native American culture. In 1822 he was appointed Indian agent with headquarters at Sault Ste. Marie and began his ethnological researches.

Having married the half-Ojibwa daughter of a fur trader, Schoolcraft learned the Ojibwa language and a great deal of Ojibwa lore. He served in the territorial legislature from 1828 to 1832. When the Whigs came to power in 1841, Schoolcraft lost his Indian agency and moved to the East, where he continued the Native American studies begun with Algic Researches (1839).

He wrote voluminously on Native Americans, the chief result being his Information Respecting . . . the Indian Tribes of the United States, a work of six volumes.

Disputes with Captain Seth and Mary Eastman regarding copyright status for Eastman's artistic work resulted in Captain Eastman receiving limited credit in these volumes. The engraving presented here, "Indian Burial" is attributed to "Capt. S. Eastman, U.S. army and C.K. Burt." The image is presented in a section devoted to "Manners and Customs" and describes burial "among the wild hordes of the prairies."